The purpose of DNS is to spread scams

# The purpose of DNS is to spread scams Source: [https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/6/the-purpose-of-dns-is-to-spread-scams/](https://simonwillison.net/2026/Sep/6/the-purpose-of-dns-is-to-spread-scams/) 6th September 2026 \- Link Blog **[The purpose of DNS is to spread scams](https://shkspr.mobi/blog/2026/09/the-purpose-of-dns-is-to-spread-scams/)**\. Terence Eden shares some daunting statistics in support of his take that "the Domain Name System's purpose seems to be a vector for criminals to run scams on people at a terrifyingly high rate"\. On[this Interisle report](https://interisle.net/insights/cybercriminaldomaindemand)\([via Andrew Campling](https://labs.ripe.net/author/andrew_campling/dns-abuse-and-criminal-infrastructure-beyond-definitions-and-blocklists/)\), Terence says: > It says 85 million new registrations of gTLDs were made in 2025\. Of those 8\.5 million were added to blocklists by May 2025\. It reckons that a 10% abuse rate is the likely floor for these numbers and it's probably closer to 20%\. One in five newly registered domains with a gTLD are scams\. That's a bloody crisis\. I had no idea\. Apparently ICANN have been discussing this problem for years\.